FCRCG Chapter 16

After responding to the message, Lian Yi deactivated the communicator’s signal and turned his gaze toward another drawer.

Inside was Zhuo Qing’s soul, sealed with three layers of spiritual barriers.

The reason for Gu Xu’s arrival was most likely related to Zhuo Qing. Gu Xu had once been Zhuo Qing’s junior apprentice and their relationship had been as close as brothers.

But Lian Yi knew well that Zhuo Qing’s death couldn’t remain hidden forever and anyone would naturally suspect him as the culprit.

With indifference, Lian Yi withdrew his gaze and turned to head back to the bedroom.

Nan Deng hadn’t fallen asleep yet. The rabbit head, woken up halfway through its nap, was now gnawing on Nan Deng’s sleeve in protest, seemingly complaining about why Nan Deng hadn’t come out to accompany it the previous night.

“I was too tired and fell asleep accidentally,” Nan Deng said while stroking the top of its head. “Did you behave yourself last night?”

The rabbit head, which had devoured several third-tier resentful spirits in one sitting the previous night, now acted as docile as a plush toy, wagging its ears and nuzzling into Nan Deng’s palm enthusiastically.

Mimicking Nan Deng, it opened its mouth in a yawn before burying its face to continue sleeping.

Lian Yi walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Nan Deng lifted his head and immediately said joyfully, “I can walk through walls again!”

He had just tested it and found he could freely pass through walls and wooden boards. It must have been the bite he took last night that had restored his powers.

However, Nan Deng didn’t dare to try too often, afraid that this ability might suddenly vanish again.

Lian Yi gave a soft “mm” and said, “No running around anymore.”

There was a certain firmness in his tone, though his voice was gentle. Nan Deng didn’t sense it and scooted closer to grab Lian Yi’s hand. “I didn’t run around… Last night, the little black cat came to find me. I heard it meowing outside.”

“A little black cat?”

It must have been the same black cat that had been by Nan Deng’s side when Lian Yi first found him.

Nan Deng nodded eagerly. “And there was another… a glowing little spirit.”

He struggled to describe it, vaguely gesturing as he tried to explain. He added that the sprite had wings and could fly.

Lian Yi didn’t ask further questions. Nan Deng had forgotten most of his past and his knowledge of the world was pitifully limited. The so-called “spirit” might very well have been a bird or an insect.

As Nan Deng spoke, his drowsiness caught up with him, and his eyelids slowly closed.

Using spiritual energy, Lian Yi loosened Nan Deng’s grip on his hand and moved him to the center of the bed.

For a ghost, Nan Deng truly spent a lot of time sleeping.

Still, after consuming the raw souls, his state seemed to have improved significantly.

Lian Yi sat by the bed, gazing at Nan Deng’s peaceful sleeping face.

On the other side, the rabbit head lay face down, completely still.

As Lian Yi stood to leave, a sudden sharp pain gripped his heart.

The pain was intense and abrupt, forcing Lian Yi to bend over, clutching the edge of the bed. His brows furrowed tightly, and his face turned pale with discomfort.

The pain didn’t last long. He managed to suppress it, straightening up only to find the rabbit head awake, staring at him intently.

Its gaze seemed to assess his frailty, as though ready to devour him at the first sign of weakness.

Lian Yi’s expression turned icy. Ignoring the rabbit head, he left the bedroom and returned to the study.

With spiritual energy sealing the room, no sound could escape. Lian Yi opened a drawer and took out Zhuo Qing’s soul.

Pulling back the curtains, sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating the glass bottle containing the soul. Upon contact with the sunlight, Zhuo Qing’s soul burst into maniacal laughter.

“Did you feel it?” Zhuo Qing’s tone dripped with malice. “The restriction is starting to take effect. This is your warning—confess and accept punishment. Perhaps you’ll still have a chance.”

“Then why don’t you just kill me?” Lian Yi showed no reaction to Zhuo Qing’s words, his voice tinged with mockery. “If the restriction had taken full effect by now, I’d already be dead.”

The pain inflicted wasn’t fatal—merely a warning. But what was the point?

He had already committed the crime of killing his master. Zhuo Qing, now a resentful spirit, loathed him to the core, wishing nothing more than for his death and eternal torment in the Tower of Karma.

Under the sun’s burning rays, the black soul twisted inside the bottle.

The agony made Zhuo Qing’s laughter sound grotesque and distorted. “Then why don’t we strike a deal?”

“Give me your living soul—three-quarters of it will suffice,” Zhuo Qing tempted. “In return, I’ll tell you how to lift the restriction, including the one in the Inner Court.”

Once both restrictions were lifted, Lian Yi’s soul would no longer be bound and he could even free himself from the identity of a celestial master.

“With your talent, even if your living soul is damaged, you can naturally repair it over time.”

Zhuo Qing’s voice grew hoarse. “You don’t want to die, do you? Or do you prefer to be locked away in darkness forever?”

Lian Yi stood silently by the desk, gazing at the sunlight outside the window as though he hadn’t heard a word.

Growing impatient, Zhuo Qing began cursing him again. His words circled back to the same tired lines, offering nothing new.

After a long pause, Lian Yi finally spoke. “Is this what you’re after?”

The Bagua ring flew into the air from behind and slammed down onto the glass bottle with a resounding “smack”.

Zhuo Qing immediately let out a blood-curdling scream, his voice echoing throughout the study.

Lian Yi didn’t stop until Zhuo Qing was utterly weakened. Retrieving the Bagua ring, he locked the resentful spirit back into the drawer.

—

Nan Deng woke up around noon. Carefully lifting the rabbit head that had been lying on him, he placed it gently on the pillow and got out of bed to look for Lian Yi.

The entire house was eerily quiet, with all the curtains tightly drawn, casting a thick layer of shadow over the place.

Lian Yi was seated in a corner of the sofa, leaning back as if resting.

Nan Deng approached and Lian Yi opened his eyes, extending a hand toward him.

“Are you sleepy?” Nan Deng sat beside him, instinctively snuggling into his arms. “Let’s go to the bedroom to sleep. I’ll stay with you.”

Lian Yi held the semi-transparent soul close, his gaze lowered as he softly said, “No need.”

Nan Deng was practically sitting on his lap. His cool fingers lightly touched Lian Yi’s face as he hesitated and said, “You seem upset…”

Lian Yi’s complexion was pale and his body temperature was lower than usual. In the sunless, shadowy environment, he appeared even more gloomy and withdrawn.

“Did you not rest well?” Nan Deng asked with concern. “Or is your wound hurting?”

Lian Yi didn’t reply. Instead, he lowered his gaze, fumbling with his sleeve as though wanting to check if his wound was still bleeding.

“It’s not.”

Lian Yi stopped him. “The wound has healed.”

The injury on his left hand had indeed healed well, to the point that he no longer needed to apply medicine over the past two days.

It was peculiar, considering the wound had been caused by Zhuo Qing’s artifact, imbued with a special talisman water. Such injuries were notoriously difficult to heal without Zhuo Qing’s specific remedy.

The wound had bled continuously for a while. Lian Yi had mostly ignored it, assuming it would take two or three months to recover. Surprisingly, it had fully healed within just a few days.

“Really?” Nan Deng hugged his arm and asked, “Then are you hungry?”

“I’m not hungry.”

After that, Lian Yi fell silent. He raised his hand as if to touch Nan Deng’s dark hair but paused midway. Instead, he unbuttoned the top of his shirt, fully exposing the side of his neck.

“Take a bite,” he said.

Nan Deng quickly shook his head. “I’m not hungry…”

“You’re a ghost,” Lian Yi countered. “How can you not like consuming living souls?”

“I do,” Nan Deng replied hesitantly, “but I just bit you yesterday. Wouldn’t that be bad for your body?”

Otherwise, why would living people fear ghosts so much?

Getting bitten by a ghost meant seeking out a celestial master for talisman water to restore their lost vitality.

“It won’t hurt me,” Lian Yi reassured him gently. “I told you, you can’t harm me.”

Nan Deng only ever consumed a minuscule portion of a living soul, so small that Lian Yi hardly noticed.

But Nan Deng still refused. He glanced at the side of Lian Yi’s neck with a trace of longing in his eyes, hesitating before saying, “Then… let’s wait until tonight.”

Lian Yi relented. “Alright.”

Nan Deng sighed in relief, thinking to himself how strange it was for someone to insist on being bitten by a ghost.

Thankfully, he was a principled ghost and wouldn’t overindulge.

Just then, a faint noise came from the bedroom—likely the rabbit head waking up. Nan Deng wanted to go check.

“Don’t move,” Lian Yi said softly. “Stay here.”

With Nan Deng by his side, the faint pain in Lian Yi’s heart seemed to subside. The cool, mist-like soul pressed close, bringing comfort even greater than soaking in warm water.

Nan Deng obediently stayed still, hugging Lian Yi’s waist and leaning against his shoulder.

Sure enough, the rabbit head had woken up. It hopped into the living room and, upon seeing Nan Deng with Lian Yi again, looked visibly annoyed.

The rabbit head jumped onto the sofa and wedged itself into Nan Deng’s arms, where it promptly went back to sleep.

—

At night, the hunt for resentful spirits resumed as usual.

Recently, the ghost king had not appeared, likely due to the large number of resentful spirits captured during the previous sweeps. The situation in the area had noticeably improved.

With Gu Xu’s arrival, bringing along a group of his own men, Lin Jiu’s workload was significantly reduced.

He decided to temporarily delegate half of his responsibilities, forming a small team to conduct routine patrols.

At eleven in the evening, resentful spirits began to stir across various locations. Lin Jiu received a message from one of the team captains.

“A household of four has fallen ill simultaneously. After inspecting the situation, we confirmed it wasn’t caused by ghosts. It might be an infectious disease. They’ve been sent to the hospital.”

Celestial masters were responsible for handling ghosts, but regular illnesses were still the hospital’s domain.

Lin Jiu replied, “Understood. Be careful on the way.”

Hospitals were high-risk areas for resentful spirits, with more celestial masters stationed there than in most places.

Lin Jiu put away his communicator, only to receive another alert—a distress signal this time.

He opened it to find it coming from the southeast, not far from his location. Without hesitation, he led his team there.

When Lin Jiu’s team arrived, they saw a third-level resentful spirit already captured, though the distress signal hadn’t been turned off.

The team captain, who was from Gu Xu’s group, looked at Lin Jiu with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. “The crisis has been resolved.”

Lin Jiu remained silent, offering no response. He left without any visible reaction.

Out in the suburbs, several celestial masters were lying in wait, occasionally using observation equipment to watch the illuminated house in the distance.

“Why hasn’t he reacted at all?” one of them asked. “Doesn’t he respond to distress signals?”

This was something many celestial masters had confirmed—Lian Yi did respond to distress signals and was known to be highly effective, capable of handling the work of four or five teams on his own.

Since reinforcements from the inner court had arrived and new regional earth spirits had appeared, distress signals had decreased significantly.

Drawing Lian Yi out of that house was supposed to be the simplest method—and it also served as a way to test how controllable he was at the moment.

Two distress signals were sent in quick succession, but the house remained eerily silent. Lian Yi showed no intention of leaving to investigate.

A celestial master scoffed, “Fine, let’s add this to his record.”

Without Gu Xu’s explicit orders, they couldn’t leave just yet. Instead, they decided to get closer, hoping to uncover what Lian Yi was doing inside that house.

The group moved stealthily. The unlit street was pitch dark, lined with abandoned houses devoid of any occupants.

Suddenly, the sound of a cat’s meow echoed nearby.

In the shadows of the night, a pair of golden eyes slowly approached, revealing a muscular black cat.

Its powerful limbs, broad paws, and glossy fur stretched over its lean, sinewy frame made it resemble a small panther.

The leading celestial master halted uncertainly. “A regional spirit?”

They were aware that the newly emerged regional spirit in the area was a black cat, though they hadn’t yet encountered it.

This particular cat seemed extraordinary—likely the regional spirit.

The black cat stopped, its gaze sweeping over the group one by one.

It had come to check on Nan Deng, to see if he was still in the house. Along the way, it caught the scent of humans and decided to investigate. Sure enough, it was a group of celestial masters.

“Is there a high-level resentful spirit here?” one of them speculated, guessing the reason for the spirit’s presence. “We’re willing to assist.”

Resentful spirits? There weren’t any here.

The black cat found them irritating—always trying to tail it and now sneaking into this area.

It let out a low growl, adopting a stance that clearly told them to leave.

The celestial masters didn’t budge. One glanced toward the distant house and said, “Then please allow us to pass. We’re under orders from the elder to patrol this area.”

The black cat grew increasingly agitated. With it around, what was the point of patrolling? The last time these celestial masters wandered into the suburbs, they had scared Nan Deng, forcing him to hide elsewhere.

Seeing that these people still insisted on proceeding, their destination coincidentally being the house where Nan Deng resided, the black cat became convinced they had ulterior motives.

The black cat’s fur suddenly bristled as it sprang forward, raising its front paw and slamming it down with such force that it nearly knocked the leading celestial master to the ground.

Though its paw didn’t physically touch the celestial master, the black cat’s spiritual power left three deep scratches across his face.

The group quickly retreated, protecting their injured companion, their expressions a mix of shock and disbelief. “This regional spirit is so aggressive?”

Regional spirits generally disliked celestial masters and had no interest in working alongside them. Given that this one was newly born, its reaction was likely even more intense.

“It seems its wild nature hasn’t been tamed,” one celestial master muttered. “No wonder it’s impossible to communicate with.”

The longer a regional spirit existed, the more it was expected to interact with humans. Total avoidance was unrealistic.

“Let’s fall back for now,” another said, glancing again toward the distant house’s glowing lights. “Tonight clearly isn’t the right time.”

The group swiftly withdrew, avoiding further confrontation with the black cat.

On the way back, they reported the situation to Gu Xu. His tone over the communicator was less than pleased. “Regional spirits instinctively detest malevolent energy. Why would one appear in the outskirts?”

The outskirts were where Lian Yi resided. His overwhelming malevolent aura kept even resentful spirits at bay, making it inconceivable for a regional spirit to coexist with him.

Gu Xu’s subordinates had no answer and instead brought up Lian Yi’s refusal to respond to distress signals.

“Who knows what he’s hiding in there,” Gu Xu sneered. “Maybe he’s avoiding me out of guilt.”

—

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Lian Yi leaned against the soft headboard, his head slightly tilted and his eyes half-closed.

He exposed his neck, allowing Nan Deng to bite him.

Nan Deng, unwilling to hurt him, only took a gentle nibble, tasting his essence before symbolically licking the spot.

Lian Yi cradled him lightly. “Is that enough?”

Nan Deng nodded, his rosy lips inches away.

Lian Yi couldn’t help but stare at him. Compared to when they first met, Nan Deng looked even more exquisite now, hardly resembling a ghost.

Ordinary ghosts grew increasingly grotesque as their strength increased, their resentment and desires often manifesting in predatory limbs or eerie appearances.

But Lian Yi wasn’t sure if Nan Deng’s condition was normal—after all, no one had ever willingly kept a ghost before.

“Can we rest now?” Nan Deng murmured, snuggling into Lian Yi’s embrace. “I’m really full.”

Lian Yi gave a soft “Mm” and moved to shut the door, not wanting the rabbit head to intrude.

Just then, Nan Deng distinctly heard a cat’s meow.

He lifted his head abruptly. “It’s the black cat!”

Lian Yi heard it too, his brow furrowing slightly as he followed Nan Deng to the window.

Nan Deng opened the window and, sure enough, spotted the black cat outside.

He waved at it, signaling his presence.

The black cat let out a few meows as it trotted over, leaping gracefully onto the windowsill.

Upon seeing Lian Yi, the celestial master, the black cat’s fur instantly bristled again. “Hissss!”

Nan Deng quickly hugged it. “It’s okay, it’s okay. He’s my friend. You’ve seen him before.”

The black cat reluctantly calmed down, glaring at Lian Yi a few times before nuzzling against Nan Deng’s palm.

“You were so fierce just now,” Nan Deng said with a sigh, then added, “But being a little fierce is good. Otherwise, you’ll get bullied outside.”

Lian Yi observed the black cat closely, his gaze sweeping over its overly muscular physique.

Who’s bullying who? That’s still up for debate.

Besides, this cat seemed to have grown noticeably larger since the last time they saw it.

Ordinary cats wouldn’t grow so quickly, let alone to such a size.

A regional spirit?

But how could a regional spirit be guarding a ghost?

Lian Yi turned his gaze to the rabbit head, who had hopped into the bedroom.

The rabbit head appeared to recognize the black cat. It jumped onto the windowsill, sniffed the cat’s paw, and even sneaked a small nibble.

The black cat remained oblivious, tilting its head to enjoy Nan Deng’s strokes.

It didn’t linger long, as usual. About ten minutes later, it leaped from the windowsill and hurried off.

Nan Deng picked up the rabbit head, closed the window, and turned to find Lian Yi quietly watching him.

Sensing something amiss, Nan Deng hesitated and asked nervously, “What’s wrong… Do you not like cats?”

“No,” Lian Yi replied, “but the little spirit that came with it last night—what did it look like?”

Nan Deng carefully described it again: a tiny, glowing figure with a lion head, wearing armor and holding a longsword, complete with a pair of wings.

It was a lion-man—a different regional spirit.

Even if Lian Yi tried not to dwell on these matters, he could no longer ignore Nan Deng’s peculiarities.

But… why had Nan Deng been confined in the Tower of Karma?

He was a soul, his aura faint yet undeniably marked with the malevolent energy unique to ghosts.

Lian Yi fell into a brief silence. Nan Deng grew increasingly uneasy and tugged at Lian Yi’s sleeve, cautiously asking, “Didn’t you say… you wouldn’t let the celestial masters catch me?”

He didn’t understand why Lian Yi was asking such questions, but an inexplicable instinct made him fear being abandoned.

Nan Deng didn’t even know the black cat was a regional spirit.

“I won’t,” Lian Yi assured, reaching out to hold him. “Of course not.”

Relieved, Nan Deng wrapped his arms tightly around Lian Yi’s waist, resting his chin against Lian Yi’s chest as he murmured pitifully, “I’ll stay with you no matter what…”

Lian Yi’s throat bobbed slightly, and he responded, “Okay.”

Meanwhile, the rabbit head had been pushed aside. After circling the floor in frustration, it huffed and hopped off to the living room.

—

During the day, Gu Xu reviewed all the reports from the previous night’s activities.

He skimmed through them absentmindedly before tossing them onto the table. “Got it. You can leave now.”

Lin Jiu responded and left, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Afterward, several of Gu Xu’s subordinates entered the room.

“Elder,” one of them asked, “what should we do now?”

It had been three days since Lian Yi had stepped outside his house, except for briefly signing for delivered groceries and supplies.

Yesterday afternoon, he had also requested the ghost record archives from the collapsed Tower of Karma without explaining why.

His communicator was unreachable and he ignored all distress signals, directly violating the orders that kept him stationed here.

“We can’t wait any longer,” Gu Xu decided. “Tonight, we’ll go in with a team.”

He suspected Lian Yi might already be plotting something in secret. If left unchecked, Lian Yi would only become more unrestrained, beyond anyone’s control.

Moreover, Gu Xu intended to go in person and ensure Lian Yi handed over Zhuo Qing.

To better protect Zhuo Qing’s soul, the operation was set for nighttime.

That afternoon, Wen Ping Ran, who somehow caught wind of the matter, sent a message to Gu Xu: “Why bother with him? He’s as good as dead anyway.”

Gu Xu couldn’t be bothered to reply and simply deleted the message.

When night fell, Gu Xu first ordered his men to attempt connecting with Lian Yi’s communicator, confirming it was still unreachable. He then personally led a team to the outskirts.

At the same time, Lian Yi entered his study and opened a drawer.

Beside his communicator was a small clay jar containing a water ghost.

He had captured it earlier to trace the fog-shrouded specter’s movements, but it wasn’t until tonight that there were finally signs of activity.

Picking up the jar, Lian Yi sensed a teleportation spell activating on the water ghost and immediately used spiritual techniques to temporarily suppress it.

Moments later, Lian Yi stepped into the living room.

He had put on a black jacket, which made Nan Deng pause before hearing him say, “I’m heading out for a bit.”

“Where are you going?” Nan Deng dropped the TV remote and walked over. “It’s so late…”

“It’s something minor,” Lian Yi said without elaborating, “I’ll be back soon.”

When he had initially tracked the fog-shrouded specter, he hadn’t thought much of it. Now that the fog-shrouded specter could no longer harm Nan Deng, he could easily ignore it.

But since discovering Nan Deng wasn’t an ordinary ghost, Lian Yi couldn’t overlook his past experiences.

The fog-shrouded specter’s existence and behavior were highly abnormal. If he remembered correctly, Nan Deng had mentioned the rabbit head being devoured by the fog-shrouded specter once before.

Catching the fog-shrouded specter might reveal other clues.

“Alright…” Nan Deng bit his lip. “I’ll wait for you at home.”

Lian Yi nodded. “Alright.”

Before leaving, he glanced at the rabbit head on the couch.

He had layered multiple formations around the house. If anyone tried to break in, he would know immediately.

As for the rabbit head, having recently consumed several resentful spirits and plenty of paper figures, Lian Yi trusted it to guard Nan Deng even better than the formations could.

Without further hesitation, he turned and left.

After securing the front door, Lian Yi took out the clay jar and instantly disappeared, teleporting alongside the water ghost to an unknown location.

Back in the living room, Nan Deng returned to the couch to watch TV. Not long after, the rabbit head suddenly turned its gaze to the window.

Outside, Gu Xu and his men had arrived, only to be stopped by the pre-set formations.

They were still over a hundred meters away from the house. There was clearly more than one layer of barriers.

Gu Xu, having anticipated this, ordered his men to surround the outermost formation and begin breaking through.

The innermost formation blocked sound, so Nan Deng heard nothing.

Reclining on the couch with a small pillow in his arms, he turned his head and noticed the rabbit head was gone.

“Xiao Tu?” Nan Deng grew worried that it was off chewing random things again and got up to search the other rooms.

Bang!

One layer of the formation was breached and the lights in the house remained steady. Lian Yi had yet to return.

Gu Xu raised his hand, signaling his men to proceed.

At that moment, the compasses held by the celestial masters began spinning wildly, abruptly detecting a surge of immense malevolent energy.

Even the compass in Gu Xu’s hand shifted, no longer pointing to Zhuo Qing’s soul but instead to himself.

More precisely, to the space behind him.

Gu Xu’s voice dropped. “A ghost king!”

Such overwhelming malevolence—every celestial master’s first thought was of a ghost king.

Yet when Gu Xu turned, he saw a massive entity looming ahead.

It was hideous, beast-like in form, covered in scales and tangled fur. In the darkness, only its general shape was discernible, but the three enormous, crimson eyes stood out vividly.

The towering malevolent energy emanated from the giant beast, which lowered its head to scrutinize the celestial masters before it.

Gu Xu was utterly stunned. His legs gave way and he collapsed to his knees.

“It’s you…” he finally found his voice, trembling as he stammered, “H-hui…”

It was the chaos god, Hui Shou.

---